It's the emotion, stupid.

• Author: Hall, Robert
• Position: Marketing Solutions

Emotion seems to be having a bad decade. Emotional customers, emotional employees or emotional debate: When the subject comes up in business settings lately, "emotional" is rarely a compliment.

Recent management practice has tended to minimize the human element. Analytical tools have proliferated to remove human decisions and errors, often eradicating personal judgment, empathetic decisions or emotional responses. Processes have been installed to dumb down complex work in the quest for reliable, scaleable and cheap. In the interest of factual, consistent analytical decisions and actions, the human quality has been outsourced to rules-based systems.

The good news is we have succeeded. That is also the bad news.

Research and personal experience indicate that customers will pay a premium, in price or share of wallet or loyalty, for the right kind of emotion--the kind that creates a personal connection.

I recently heard colleagues talk about selecting a hotel in London based on its proximity to Starbucks. Now that is a positive emotional connection. Have you ever noticed the different types of responses when the question arises: Do you have a place to recommend for ... hair cut, car repair, good produce, bank, etc.? And how pleasant it is to give or get a ringing endorsement?

Why do some companies do so well at fostering an emotional connection, while some find it so hard?

One reason is the methodologies for evaluating success. Many, such as analytical analysis, Six Sigma and satisfaction surveys, tend to focus on eliminating defects and "dissatisfiers." They do address a part of the problem. But the absence of defects is not the same as the presence of value. And the presence of value does not guarantee the emotional bond with our customers.

Making your business stand out

We must aim higher if we are to become an organization where customers bond with us. In fact, as more organizations have gotten good at the cold, calculating side of defection management, those that foster a connection with customers will stand out even more.

The advertising world has long focused on creating this emotional tie. The problem is that often the brand promise elevates expectations that are not carried out in the customer experience, which then accentuates the gap between the promise and the reality. A poor formula for bond building.

What must change?

* First, the delivery side of the organization must become as intentional as the marketing side about...